And Washington remains on a tear that is just killing the Phillies who now are a full 10 games out in June.

And the Dodgers are the first 40 win team. They are cruising.

I hope Dickey is the NL starter in the All-Star game. I love stories like his.

As the season began, no one would have predicted that RA Dickey would lead the league with wins (especially a knuckleballer).

As a Mets fan I know I shouldn't be rooting for the Nats (and I'm really not), but IF the Mets can't win the division I certainly want Washington to. I really like their team and I've always been a big Davey Johnson fan.

yep, I've never been a Braves fan or a Marlins fan so Washington would be fine winning the division. But Washington is gonna run into trouble by late August with their starting pitching. So the NL East really could still be in play.

...and hey, they're the Expos!

Yanks complete a sweep of the Braves with an interminable 3-2 win (3 hrs 40 mins). Thanks to the Mets for bumping off the Rays again.

P.S. Hey Atlanta: Still with the Tomahawk Chop? The 90s have been over for a long time--get over it.

I thinking it's too early to rule anybody out in the N.L. East race, including you guys. Although I hope it doesn't become a factor in the pennant race, the Nats may skid after SS gets pulled after 160 innings.

Before I forget, congratulations to Dickey on his new record and pitching what should have been the Mets' second (or first?) no-hitter in franchise history.

I'll take that as a compliment instead of an insult.

Meant as a compliment!

The Expos gave the Mets one of their grandest and most beloved players, Le Grand Orange.

Holy crap, Jason Bay hit a HR today in Tampa.

Mets sweep Tampa so that bad weekend in NY gets erased.

Tampa Bay may give us more problems than the Yankees. The Yankees have 27 world titles and an enormous fan
base. They lead the majors in road attendance when they're in LAST place. It's easy to get up for them. On the other
hand, even when the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the World Series, fans in other ballparks ignore them. (The Orioles
actually had a one-admission doubleheader to bring fans to a Tampa Bay Rays game a few years ago when they were
in first place. That almost NEVER happens anywhere.) Intellectually, the Nats may know the Rays will give them as tough
a fight as the Yankees, but it's HARD to get up for the Rays, even if it's very easy to buy a ticket to their games.

I'm not sure why the Mets easily handled the Rays but got swept by the Yankees. Maybe they will do better when that series switches to Citifield. At least Ike Davis is starting to hit,

Ironically, BJ Upton's roller to 3B was ruled a hit, but could easily have been ruled an error on David Wright (who bare-handed it when he fielded the ball, and tried to force a play).

But then again, after fifty years without any occurring, two no-hitters in a week for the Mets would be asking for too much

BTW, Matt Cain of the SF Giants threw a perfect game on Wednesday night, in a 10-0 win over the Astros

It was the 22nd perfect game in MLB history, and the second one thrown already this season

(sadly, for Houston fans, it was the fifth no-hitter thrown against the Astros in their history)

Like I've said no-hitters and now perfect games are becoming quite common, even the Mets are getting involved in the fun.

Dickey has come real close twice this season.

BTW, that perfect game wasn't just the first one in San Francisco baseball history, but the entire franchise history of
the Giants which goes all the way back to 1883. Matt Cain has done something neither Christy Matthewson nor Carl
Hubbel was ever able to do.

BTW, just in time for the Yankees series at Nationals Park, I finally got my hands on my Eric Wolfe Hanson commission!

(Big thanks to Rafael for the composite image!)

Now for today's token non New York baseball comment:

The Mariners got swept by the Padres in Seattle. That is my new definition of pathetic.

Joe Girardi got his 500th win as Phil Hughes dominates the Nationals, 7-2 with 8 Ks.